


The Girl Who Never Knew

by amateurh0ur



Category: 12th Doctor - Fandom, Doctor Who
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Humor, hurt comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-07-27 02:01:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7599085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amateurh0ur/pseuds/amateurh0ur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to a freak accident, the 12th Doctor finds himself crash landed in an alternate universe. One he thought he'd never return to. <br/>It is not long that he begins to recognize familiar faces... And one not so familiar.<br/>Read on to find out who "the girl who never knew " is!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The dying star

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fellow fans](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Fellow+fans).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to comment and let me know what you think!!

It was a Thursday.... well sorta. It had been 25 hours and 14 minutes since Clara left from their last adventure, and that was a Wednesday....so... in a way it was thursday.

The TARDIS was acting stranger then usual. She weeped and wheezed with a mechanical moan. 

"What's the matter old girl?" The Doctor asks with his scottish bur. 

He watched with concern as the interface bobbed uncomfortably up and down in the glass tube atop the console. 

He petted the exposed tissues of her telepathic mainframe, and she bit back snappily. 

"Ooh come on, don't be that way." He scolded. 

The time lord tinkered with the console wiring, remembering back to when for a brief while, the TARDIS and him could talk.

He remembered how she called him her thief, and how she would sputter things at random, never knowing if it was from the past or future. He imagined that if she still had a flesh body, she would be pouting and babbling on and on and on, moving about and nagging him like only a woman could. 

A woman.

The Doctor had encountered many women in his life time. Some too painful to recall

Tegan, who was driven practically mad by all the death that seemed to follow him. 

Peri Brown, who he thought to have been killed, and her body used as a host for a sleazy alien business man. 

Rose, left stranded in an alternate universes heart broken and lost, with a mear meat copy of himself. 

Donna, her memorie completely whipped of all information of her being the most important woman in the universe. She would live the rest of her life believing she is worthless.

Amy Pond, fallen victim to the touch of a weeping angel. 

River.

Oh River. Daughter of his best friend. Sacrificed herself to save him years before he knew her. 

Their story was a complicated one to keep up with, even for a time lord. 

Always traveling in opposite directions in time. His first kiss, her last. 

He always secretly loved the she was willing to risk the whole universe to avoid shooting him the day they got married. 

Of all the things to feel guilty about, River's life was close to the top of the list. 

If he had never met Amy, and kept her waiting, River never would have been born, never brought up in Devil's Run, and she would never have had to live through the hardships that came along with loving him. 

And not a day went by that he didn't feel sorry for it all.

A rather loud moan from the TARDIS brought the Doctor back to reality. The matrix was bobbing frantically, swinging the rotating screen in front of him. 

The image it held made the Doctor's stomach churn. 

A fierce ball of hot gas raged amongst the cosmose, just outside the TARDIS doors. He hadn't seen one since he attempted to say goodbye to Rose back at bad wolf bay. And even then it wasn't in such dangerous proximity.

A dying star.

The Doctor knew all to well what happened once a star burned out. 

Much like a time lord's body, it goes out with a bang.

Franticly running about the console, the Doctor punched buttons and flipped switches, trying to get his old girl away of the immanent threat. 

As the star flickered out, the time lord's hands flew across the dash with desprite speed. 

"No no no no no no no!!" He shouted.

Hauling the travel leaver into action at the same moment the star outside bursted into a catastrophic inferno with a force that sent the TARDIS traveling everywhere at once.

Then no where at all. 

Everything went dark.


	2. I know this place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor wakes up from his crash and finds help in a familiar face.

An exasperated groan escaped the Doctors thin lips.

The console room was dark and cluttered with debris. The lights fluttered slightly, and loud mechanical sparks would charge out of randomly exposed circuits.

The very sore time lord dragged himself upright and checked over the dash. 

The damages were drastic. Wherever he had landed, he'd be there for a while. Three months at least. 

He swiveled the dented screen in front of him. It looked like somewhere just outside London.

But also not. 

It was 2021...

... But also not. 

He furrowed his sharp brows, pushing the TARDIS doors open, and stepped out, smoke bellowing out behind him. 

It was a park.  
A rather small one with a walking path and a fountain in the distance. An urban naibor hood sat quaintly across the street.

The Doctor walked forward, and casually looked around the park, trying to look as normal as possible (as normal as a gray lanky man cover in a filthy red lined coat, stepping out of a rickety, smoking, vintage police box). 

As he walks by a local poster board, he looked over the band fliers, and town events.... when he saw a familiar face.

On a rather large poster, bared the smiling face of Pete Tyler.

Who last he checked was dead. 

The only place he existed alive was in an alternate pocket universe. 

The one he left Rose in.

 

He scrambled his way across the street in a rush, and walked strait up the steps to the first house he came to. 

Knocking (banging) on the door with alternating fists, he heard a rather cross howler come from inside. 

"Oy! I'm coming!!"

The door swung open, and the Doctors mouth practically fell to the welcome mat. 

A pang hit his chest and gripped his two hearts with such a great force that he was rendered literally speechless.

Standing in the door, with a hand on her hip, her full lip in a cross pout, and flaming hair framing her face...

...... was Amy Pond.

"Can I help you?"


	3. Come on in

"Can I help you?" She repeated, an edge of annoyance in her tone. 

The Doctor search for words but found none. Of all possible situations he of all people could find themselves in, this was the last thing he would have expected. 

She was older now. Maybe mid 40s.

Slight lines were etched at the corners of her eyes, and her hair was much shorter, brushed neatly and hanging just at her ears. 

"Sir I'm a very busy woman. So you'd better have a mighty good reason for banging on my door like a loon." She glared.

He offered his best smiled, only now appreciating her Scottish accent. Not knowing just how much he missed it. 

"I... Um... Do you have the time? Like the time of year... And exactly where I am... I'm just a tad lost." He lied. He was never that confused. he just hoped her soft and serving heart hadn't hardened with age. 

She looked him up and down.

"I can see that. Come on in, I'll get u some tea." She stepped back to allow him entrance. "Oh, and iv counted the silverware... so don't even try." She added. 

As he walked into the house, he took note of the pictures hanging on the wall. 

Pictures of her and Rory's wedding, and some of them on a vacation to a lake (Rory sporty a ponytail) and others. There was one that was rather large, hanging above a small gas fireplace. 

It was a professionally taken photo of Amy and Rory maybe in their their early 30s, matching in the same color of navy... but what got his attention was the young girl standing between them in a little navy skirt and sweater. 

She was a good blend between Amy and Rory as far as features went, but her hair was just as flameing as her mothers. 

She beamed at the camera with a smug little mouth, and mature eyes. 

"Y-you have a daughter?" He called. 

Amy walked into the living room with two steaming cups of tea. 

"Yeah, lovely young lady now. 17." She smiled proudly at the picture. 

"She's got your smiles." 

"Her father says she has my attitude too." She joked. 

He chuckled aloud and took the cup of tea from her hands. 

"Now, you said you're lost?" She asked him, eyeing him carefully. 

"Well, yes a bit. Iv been away for quite some time... and I don't know what time of year it is... Or exactly where I am..." He trailed of absently. 

"Gone for a bit? Well were on earth could you have gone that you'd forget all that?" 

He grinned, knowing he wasn't on earth, and not even this earth... Or universe at that. 

"That's a bit of a complicated question." He scratched his head in amusement. 

"Well... wherever you were, it's November 3rd, 2021. Your just north of London." She filled in all his questions. 

"I didn't catch your name." 

"You can just call me the Doctor." 

She looked at him funny. "Seriously? Well alright, I'm Amy Pond Williams." 

He had alway loved her name. ""Amelia. Amelia Pond... Like the name in a fairy tail." He mused, making her blush. 

*****

About an hour later, they were both working on their second cup of tea, and sat comfortably on separate couches in the living area. 

"So your husbands a doctor?" 

She smiles proudly. 

"Yeah, he's the head doctor at a hospital close to London. He's gone quite a bit actually.... I guess he's not the kind of doctor you are... What kind of doctor are you any way?" She babbled. 

"Practically every kind." He chuckled. 

Their laughter was interrupted by the grand bong of a grandfather clock. 

"Oh my gosh! It's 5 already! Time just flew by. I really must go and run some errands, it was lovely meeting you Doctor." 

Slightly saddened that he had to leave, he handed her his empty cup. 

"Well thank you for your kindness, give your family my best wishes. And you'll find that with me, time always flys." 

She gave him a kind but queer look.

"There's something about you... you're just... easy to talk to." 

The Doctor walked down the steps and down the walk, heading for town. 

Perhaps this would not be such a bad few months.


	4. Familiar in more ways than one

The walk to town was not a very long one. Maybe 2 miles tops. 

The town itself was not very busy. People drifted in and out of little shops and pubs, talking quaintly amongst themselves. 

This place just north of London sent a little chill down his back. It reminded him slightly of the comfortable feeling in a dream he once had with Amy and Rory... where everything was too perfect.

But this place was different. It was quaint, inviting, and so very human. 

He sat on an iron bench across a street lined with shops. 

He watched the people rather carefully, thinking how blessed they all were to have him hot exist in their universe. They had never been invaded, and never had an odd Christmases. 

How boring. 

A little bell jungled as a door of the coffee shop opened across the way. 

The human that strode out captured his attention instantly. He watched her with furrowed brows as she tugged her linen coat tighter around her, flipping her bright ginger ponytail over her shoulder. She sipped the steaming cup of mocha in her hands as she confidently strutted down the walk way. The very air parted away to let this young lady pass.   
But there was something else about her... something that he just couldn't pin down. 

The curious time lord hopped out of his current seat and tried his best not to run at her, as to not freak her out. 

So instead he power walked in a mad scramble (like that wasn't any less frightening). 

The girl payed no mind to the gangly gray man walking behind her. 

He was drawn to her like an unfinished puzzle. What was it about her? Her face? Her nature? 

Lost him his head, he only realized she had stopped at the cross walk when he rammed into her, causing her to drop her drink. 

"Oy!" She exclaimed, jumping so the drink avoided her shoes. 

"I-I'm sorry, I'm a bit of a clutz..." He rambled, dropping to pick up the cup from the ground, then dropping it again from the sheer heat of the liquid.

"It's fine... guess I'll go get another." She huffed. 

"Would you allow me to buy its for you?" He offered.

"Sure." She answered without hesitation. 

"Seriously?" He asked. She stopping and just stared at him. "Seriously? Seriously what?" 

"You are going to let a stranger buy you coffee?" 

She shrugged. "Well yeah, I'm not going to turn down the chance to get a free drink." 

"But what if I poisoned it when you weren't looking... You would risk that?" he quizzed. 

"Well, are you going to do anything to it?" She quizzed back.

"No but-"

"Then come on, it's cold and I'm craving a good brew." She strode past him back down the way twords the shop.   
He fumbled to catch up next to the teen, earning a snicker. 

"I didn't catch your name." She said, looking up at him. 

"The Doctor."

She quirked a brow up. "Doctor what?"

the unfamiliar term caught him off guard and her noticed the pause was getting longer and more uncomfortable. 

"Just the Doctor. And you?" 

"Melody. Melody Williams."

The pang filled his chest at the name. 

"Melody." He repeated in a hushed tone. He looked her over.

River if he'd never met Amy....

....The girl from the photo.


	5. Small talk

The two sat on the iron bench the Doctor had been sitting on before. She held a large cup of coffee in her hands and sipped on it absently.

"So you met my mum?" She asked again. 

He nodded in response. "I did. Charming woman. You have her smile." 

She rolled her eyes rather than blushed.

"So where you come from? Like, what brings you here?" She pressed. 

"You wouldn't believe me." He said simply. 

"Why not?" She seemed almost offended. She pouted her lips much like her mother always did. 

"Because you're different. Different from how I know you." 

She didn't know how to answer. What did he bloody well mean by that?

He didn't know her.   
Not her. 

She wasn't River Song.

She hadn't been raised in Devils run...

And this teen before him was most certainly not the woman he married.

"Wait, no.... go back..." He piled up suddenly. Melody just countinued to stare at him. 

"Not different than how I know you because I never met you..." 

"Yyyeeaahhhh..." Melody held out, suddenly aware that she may be sitting next to a mad man.  
"That's right. We've never met before today."   
The Doctor waved his hands about frustratingly as though he could waft away her distracting comment. 

"I don't know you.... but I know what you are capable of!! Capable of a different you that isn't different at all because it is in fact you!" 

Melody just kept sitting there, her eyes locked on him like watching a car accident, her mouth slightly agap in confurtion.

He pointed at her, his finger inches from her nose. 

"What do you want to be one day?"

"An-" 

"Of corse!" He nearly shouted, interrupting her completely.  
"Of course you do! And you can sure do it. Heavens, you could Bloody well do what ever you want in this world. You've got nothing holding you back in this world River... imagine what you could-" 

She Moved to join him standing. 

"My name is Melody! Not Riv-"

"Of corse your not, but you have her strength. It's all in there." He tapped her forehead. 

He scratched his head as his mind raced. 

This teenager didint lacked a degree in the fire that River had.   
But she lacked life experience.   
True.   
The world was a clean canvas, and she was the worlds most expensive brand of paint. He knew what she was capable of... Hel, he married it.   
She had the potential to be something amazing.

"Meet me in the park across the street from your house tomorrow at noon. Look for a blue box!"

He instructed as he turned and made a quick pass down the street, Practically teaming with excitement. 

She just stood there by the bench, watching the strange Doctor run off down the way, his red lines coat flailing behind him. 

He was erratic, a tad rough, and strange in every sense of the word.

And she enjoyed him to pieces.


	6. Stroll in the park

It was 12:30 when Melody finally found the blue box. She would have found the thing sooner if the old coot had given her a better description besides just a "blue box". Like how big was it? Was it one of those thing that you'd know it if you saw it?   
She had practically spent her entire teen years living across the street from the park, so she was bound to notice if something was there that wasn't before.   
And sure enough, there was.  
Sitting towerds the back of the park under a few trees was what appeared to be a vintage police box. Melody picked at the scratches on the door, and over the lock.   
Hesitantly, she pulled at the little metal handle, grunting in frustration when it refused her entrance. 

She tried knocking, and when she did, the door opened a crack, a wide, icy eye peeking through. Very quickly, out slipped the Doctor, carful not to let the teen see inside. She crained her neck to looked over his tall shoulders, but to no avail. 

"And what sort of time do you call this?" 

She roller her eyes at her strange stranger. "It's noon somewhere... What were you doing in there?" 

"Tinkering."

"Is that slang for somthin?" She giggled. 

Flustered he perked his eyebrows sharply. "No! Insolent little..." He babbled on, walking past her. 

"So what did you want me here for?" She called to him, still eyeing the blue box. 

"You, Melody Pond, are special. You, like so many others, are capable of so much, even with your tiny human brain.... I know for a fact that you. Can. Be. Fantastic." He emphasized the last bit. 

"So why me?"

"Why not?"

"Don't quiz me." She sassed. 

He inched closer, as if to tell her a secret.

"Because I've seen it before."

She didn't know him well. He may even be a bit "not all there", but she wanted to know what he did, even if it was nonsense. 

"Because I'v seen it, Melody! Not here, not now, but I know who you were, are going to... can be... I know her... and I know you." He struggled to get out. 

"How?" She wasn't scared that this erratic man claimed to know her. Not just know her... Like met her. But claimed to really know her. So her question was nothing short of genuine. 

"To soon to tell you." He said shortly, walking past her again, leaving her trailing behind him. 

"Oh come on that's not fun! Why can't you tell me?" She pressed, walking a few paces in front of him now, back peddling to face him. 

He didn't answer, but nearly rolled his eyes. 

"Why is the deal with archeologist?"

The question caught her off guard. "What?" 

"Archeologists, why do they do what they do?"

"Umm... I suppose they enjoy history. If you study the patterns of the past, you could probably guess the future." She shrugged her thick scarf up around her ears. 

"But what if they could travel into the future? There wouldn't be a need for it."

She gave him a funny look. "Thats not nessesarily true. I didn't say that's the only reason they do it, was to guess the future.... It's important to appreciate the past. It can shape us. Without our past, we jus can't have a future." 

"So you're saying if given the opportunity to travel into the future... that you wouldn't do it?" He asked her in disbelief. She shook her head and grinned to herself.  
"I didn't say that." 

He looked back at his TARDIS with a grin. "So is that a deal?" He asked. 

The Doctor then was hit with a sense of dread. He knew he could never take this Melody into space, or into the future. The universe she resided in would never allow the TARDIS to travel freely. 

If he took her, it would be for keeps. 

He had seen one Amy loose her baby, and he refused to ever see it again. 

Melody played along with whatever this mysterious man's game was. 

"Deal." 

**********

As they walked through the park, the Doctor countinued to quiz Melody, and she quizzed right back. A stroll in the park. No destination, and no real reason other than to figure each other out.   
He found her engorssing, like a novel. Her face a perfect blend of his best friends. Blue eyes wise beyond her years. 

She found him intriguing, like a magic 8 ball. Never knowing what he was going to say, but always on your toes to find out just exactly what. His face etched in deep lines from his frowning mouth to his crows feet eyes. 

She found his attire odd, but very suited for him.

She felt the urge to touch the smooth red lining of his jacket as he flipped it upward when his hands were in his pockets. 

Melody couldn't help notice a strange shaped thing in the breast pocket of the magnificent jacked. 

It was long like a pen or something, but far to big...

She found herself tuning the time lord's rambling out as she ran through all the things that could be in this odd man's jacket. 

A banana? A large cigar? A flashlight?

The Doctor could tell that something was off. Her eyes no longer looked up at his face, or ahead to the path like normal, but were focused hardon something else entirely. The wheels in her head spin so hard that smoke was practically coming out her ears.   
Curiosity got the better of poor Melody, and she quickly snatched her hand in his jacket pocket, latching her fingers around the odd object, but once she had it out in the open, the Doctor seized her wrist out of pure reflex (which he didn't know this body had). 

They both stared between them at the thing she was holding. It was some sort of mechanical thing with a green stained glass nob at the end, surrounded buy retracted metal clamps. 

"What the bloody hell is this thing doing in you pocket?" 

"It's not polite to snat-"

"Oh bollocks.. What is it?" She asked, eyeing the device carefully. 

He plucked the thing from her grasp, and tucked it back in his breast pocket, then adjusting his lapel formally.

"It's a screwdriver." 

"You're kidding right? What sort of screwdriver looks like that?" She laughed sharply. 

"A sonic one."

Melody stifled another giggle "A sonic screwdriver? Is that more slang?" 

Oy. In some areas did River's traites shine through this girl....

..... Only if it hadn't been his wife's crude humor.


	7. Bedtime stories

Melody was sitting in bed, trying very hard to stay awake.

To many questions were unanswered to fall asleep. A notebook sat in her lap, as she doodled a little box baring the words "Police" on it.

No matter how many times she sketched it out, she couldn't get it right. It wasn't intimidating... or exciting enough. Not at all like it was in person.

Who was the Doctor? What was in that bloody box? And why was he so fascinated with her of all people?

It's true, she's more mature then most girls her age.

She doesn't swoon over boy bands, or obsess over new trends.

She had her own style, and her own interests. She made fairly good grades, and enjoyed coffee over tea. She loved older music and trips to the library. Her favorite book was Alice Through the Looking Glass.

She hadn't accomplished much, and wasn't well known. Though she was confident in herself, she couldn't begin to understand what it was about her that captured a man like him's attention.

 

And who was River?

 

Was she a friend of his? Or an ex girlfriend?

He didn't seem like one to stick around and make friends, and he seemed to rough to hold down a lady friend.

But he was waring a ring.....

Tap tap tap tap tap!

Melody was yanked out of her thoughts.

A distinct taping at her window had her scrambling out of bed and flinging her curtains to the side.

There staring at her through the glass was the Doctor. She jumped a little at the sudden pale, wrinkled face aluminized by the Christmas lights strung in her room.

She unlatched the window and hauled it open.

"What the hell are you doing?" She whispered shouted. 

"I come baring a gift." He said.

She looked down outside. If anybody saw this, tongues would wag.

"Where'd you get the ladder?"

"Never mind that," he waved her off.

"Aren't you going to let me in, or are you going to let and old man freeze... or possibly fall." He asked a bit irritated.

Hesitant, she stepped back and helped him in.

He struggled to get through with only one hand. The other was clasped to a big brown paper bag.

Once inside, she quickly shut the window and curtain. She looked back at her strange friend who was looking curiously around her room.

It was a small but cozy space. A rod iron coat rack stood tall at the entrance, littered with scarfs, coats, and bags.

Her bed was pushed in the corner, packed with quilts, and pillows. One quilt he recognized at the one on Amy's bed when he tucked her in all those years ago. The room itself was painted a dark navy, and was only lit by the soft glow of a long string of Christmas lights, strung in every witch way about the ceiling.

"Charming." He commented.

"Thanks. Now what are you doing here?" She asked him.

He held out the paper bag with a long arm. She quirked an eyebrow.

"Santa usually comes down the chimney." She took the bag and peered inside. It was filled with what looked like scrap metal, and odd little tools she had never seen before. "And he usually brigs better gifts." She teased.

He rolled his eyes.

"What is all this stuff?"

"It's parts to make your own sonic screw driver." He explained. Melody didn't know how to feel. Exited. Confused. Honored.

"I don't even know what a sonic screw driver does... much less how to make one." She chuckled. The Doctor smirked.

"Well when you figure it outgrow to build it, you'll find out what it's capable of. Mine's gotten me out of many scrapes." He mused in memory of all the times he has used it. And his other self.   
The not doctor.

****

"Their scientific instruments... Not water pistols!"

****

"So why give me this? Not that I'm not flattered but-"

"Just because. Because I think you should have one.... Because it suits you." He said simply.

She sat the bag down and pushed it into the pit that was her closet.

"Suits me?"

He nodded.

She chewed at her lip much like her mother use to do. 

"Look Doctor.... I don't know who this River character is, but I'm not her...I'm sorry... but I'm not going to pretend that I am... and I'm not just going..."

She didnt know quite how to word such a touchy subject. 

The Doctor had never seen this girl be sheepish in all the two days he's known her. He saw her strut out of the coffee shop with such confidence and stride... And now she shrinked away as if afraid. 

"Im fully aware that you're not River." He said.

She could'nt meet his eyes. She just stared at the gold band around his finger. A painful churn twisted at her gut.

"Who was she?"

"A good friend."

"Your wife." She gestured to the ring. He then to looked down at the band around his skinny finger.

Nodding he mumbled. "Yes." he looked at the young girl before him, who was at a loss for words. 

"She was my wife." He didnt mean to put definition in the word "was", but that awful word was all Melody could hear. She could'nt bring herself to ask him what happened. He was sorta her friend... But even she could'nt stand to think of him upset... or angry.

Meldoy plopped down in the noock of her bed and pulled her note pad in her lap.

"Doctor... Tell me a story. Tell me about River." 

Eyeing her, he hesitantly sat himself amungst the vast pile of quilts, leaning againset the wall and let out s heavy sigh.

He was beutiful. 

Melody studied the lines etched in his thin face. Those icy apatures framed by tired lids looked out into forever. 

He comenced to telling her of his and River's wedding. The fanasticly impossible fantacy of cults, astronauts.... and silence.

Melody admired his story telling skills, and marveled at the creativity behind his little bedtime story.

As he spoke, she doodled the character she figured represented himself. the Bloke that married River Song. A raggedy looking man with a tweed jacket, and bowtie. 

The Doctor himself smiled sadley to himself as if remembering an old friend. 

He talked on for hours with amazing detail, his Scottish bur softly coacsing her into the world he discribed. 

Melody had'nt relized she was crying while he uttered the words spoken by River with such emotion, Melody felt as if the phrase had grabed hold of her heart in a relentless, painful grip. 

She countinued to wimper littled sobs long after she had fallen asleep. 

And the Doctor's hearts broke.

"I can't let you die without you knowing that you are loved - by so many and so much - and by no one more than me."


	8. Darling, it's cold outside

It had been a month since that night, and the chilling air had grown unforgiving. 

White snow blanketed the park, contrasting beautifully with the rich blueness of the TARDIS.

School had been out for two days or so, and the Doctor had planned on paying Melody a visit, just to check up on his young friend.

Locking the TARDIS door behind him, he trudged through the park and across the street to the Pond's residence. Though, when he got to the ground walkway, he noticed something rather odd.   
Sitting on the front steps was Melody huddled in a very light jacket, shivering rather boldly. 

What?

"Melody?" He called from the sidewalk. 

She looked up at him and smiled with embarrassment and relief. 

"Hey Doctor." She called back stiffly, and a bit horse. 

"What are you doing out here?" He asked, walking up to the base of the steps. 

She chuckles nervously to herself at the situation. "I'm locked out." 

"Where are your parents?"

"Out of town. I came outside to get the mail, and forgot to prop the door open behind me." 

It was the Doctor's turn to chuckle now. 

"Well, I won't have you getting sick, that would be gross." He helped her up and walked down the steps. 

"Where are we going?" Whet asked suspiciously. 

"My TARDIS. The blue box. Don't worry, it's warm in there"

He felt Melody stiffen beside him at the mention of the ship. 

Logically she should be scared. 

A strange man taking her to a box in the park... No parents to save her. 

But it was the box. 

Curiosity washed away whatever sense she had left, so there she was. Trudging alongside the Doctor with snow licking painfully at her bare ankles. 

The walk was slow, so the sight of the sudden navy doors was a relief. Melody couldn't bring herself the breath, or look away from the towering box. 

"You ready?" He asked with a grin. 

"What do you keep in there?" She breathed in a small voice.

"Let's find out." He whispered in gruff Scottish, causing her to shudder with anticipation.

The Doctor snapped his fingers and the TARDIS doors flew open. 

The snow around the entrance melted instantly from the wave of convenient heat that pooled from inside. Walking hesitantly forward, she peeked her head inside. 

Wait. 

Jutting back out, she studied the exterior of the box in bewilderment. 

The time lord himself couldn't suppress a crooked smile at the teenager pacing around the box with comedically wide eyes, her jaw dropped improperly. 

Melody then stepped into the impossible box again and marveled. 

Just as wonderful as in his bedtime story. The sleek mettle interior, and dim blue lighting. The only normal looking thing was the bookshelves and chalk board on a balcony over head... which gave the space a homey feeling. An odd substance wheezed, and bobbed in the center of the room in a glass tube, surrounded by some sort of panel covered in various buttons, nobs, and switches. 

"I-its.... What the hell... It..." 

She sputtered. 

"Come on, out with it." He encouraged with a chuckle. 

"It's bigger on the inside!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth

The TARDIS had no clue how to feel about Melody on board.   
On one hand she was pleased to have an old friend home...  
And on the other she was a theoretical impossibility. 

Melody was up on the balcony that looked over the console room. She sat curled in a comfy chair watching the matrix bob in the great tub. She was comfortable, bundled in dry clothes and a quilt. A small oak side table stood beside her holding a mug of hot coffee. 

She sat alone. 

Alone with her thoughts.

Thoughts of her now even stranger friend. 

Thoughts of her own madness... Was she mad? Or was this just incredibly real? Or was it both? Should she run? Or cry for help? Enjoy her time in a magic box?   
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden click clack of chalk on the board just behind her. She hadn't heard him climb the stairs, or enter the space. 

"Enjoy the coffee? That's an early 17th century brew. Belgium I believe." He said casually. 

"It's wonderful. It must be very expensive. You didn't have to waist it on me." She tested.  
"It was nothing believe you me." 

His hand dashed across the board, creating complex equations of a numeral system she had never seen before.   
"D-doctor?" 

He spun around to face her, noting the tense stutter in her voice. 

"What are you?" 

He squared himself a bit before looking her in the eyes. He had expected this question. And as with all things with River, it's best to be honest.  
"I am an alien to earth. I am a Time Lord from the planet Galifray, and this is my ship."

She just stared at him. 

Logic says this can't be... But here it is. 

"An alien?" She asked for clarification. 

He nodded. 

"Yes. And I'm not even from this universe. I crashed hear from an alternate universe where I'm from. It'll take me another two months before I get this old girl up and running." He patted the wall lovingly.

Melody stayed silent for a while. Not sure if any words could be right. 

"Well that explains a lot." She said simply, excepting the fact that if she thinks it over to carefully, her brain might just implode.   
Her mother always said to take things in stride, and freaking out about the obviously possible... Well it just wouldnt helping out her stress levels. She would expect nothing less from a man such as this.

"So, a space ship... been anywhere interesting?" She tested curiously, still feeling like she was playing along with a child's pretend story.

The Doctor couldn't possibly tell her everywhere he'd been. He could tell she was a bit fragile at the moment, and telling her everything could break her mind. The River he knew was a broken one. He wouldn't break this one.   
"Well, for one Iv been to Belgium, 1626 to pick up that coffee." He gestured to the mug.

Her eyes widened and she grinned at the cup. She looked so like her mother. Like the little girl in the space suit.   
"You mean I'm actually drinking alternate universe... Actual 17th century coffee?!" She asked? 

He chuckled. 

She grabbed up the mug and sipped at it with a new appreciation.

"So you weren't kidding when you said you'd take me on a trip!" She exclaimed.

"Now wait-" 

"Oh we could go to Rome! Or another planet! Can this thing do that?!" 

"Mel-"

"Should I pack? Or I could-"

"Melody!" He shouted over her excitement.   
"Melody, I'm so sorry. I would in a heart beat... And I have four... But you aren't frommy universe... And if I take you, then you could never come back."   
Her face fell, and his hearts broke.   
"Oh." She muttered.   
"Melody, I-"   
She then perked up, and put on a strong face that cracked. "No Doctor. It's perfectly ok, I'm not a child, I'm not going to pout." She assured him.   
He had never had to turn down a trip he himself wanted to take. He wanted so bad for her to see wonders. To dream miraculous dreams, and have to learn to ignored the nightmares that would   
follow. At least he would spare her those.

He watched her snuggle back down into the old chair and sip at her coffee some more.   
"So, two more months with you."  
He nodded. 

"Well until then you can't get rid of me."

He quirked a brow at her amusing authority.   
"Is that so?" He asked. 

"Yep. Iv tasted Belgium coffee and I'm not going back." She joke.   
"But seriously Doctor. Iv got two months to cope with the impossible before you zip off and leave me to go mad." The fear in that comment leaked through the cracks of her mask of benevolence.   
He pondered the highly possible situation he would be putting her in. He had an idea. But it would mean giving up is most prized position next to the TARDIS.   
"Melody, I promise you I will not let you to go mad."  
"But you're gonna leave me." She assured him. She knew it to be horribly true.

"Yes. I will leave...  
... But into madness you will not fall. I promise you that."


End file.
